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US Senator Ted Stevens indicted

Senator Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in the US Senate and a major figure in Alaska politics since it became a state in 1959, was indicted on Tuesday on seven felony counts of concealing more than US$250,000 in house renovations and gifts from a powerful oil contractor that lobbied him for government aid.

Stevens, 84, is the first sitting US senator to face federal indictment since 1993.

“I am innocent of these charges and intend to prove that,” Stevens said.

The indictment of a man who for years ranked among the most powerful people in the Senate further damages Republican prospects in the November election as Senate Democrats, who now enjoy a 51-49 majority, try to capture at least 60 of the 100 seats in the Senate.

That three-fifths majority is the number necessary to prevent Republicans from stalling tactics that have stymied the Democrats in the Senate from achieving many of their priorities. Stevens faces both Democratic and Republican challengers trying to capitalize on his legal woes.

He is accused of lying on his annual Senate financial disclosure reports between 1999 and 2006, an indictment that caps a lengthy FBI investigation that has upended Alaska politics and brought unfavorable attention to both Stevens and his congressional colleague, Republican Representative Don Young. Both are running for re-election this year.

The Justice Department accused Stevens of accepting expensive work on his home in Girdwood, Alaska, a ski resort town outside Anchorage, from oil services contractor VECO Corp and its executives. VECO normally builds oil processing equipment and pipelines, but its employees helped do the work on Stevens’ home.

Prosecutors said that work included a new ground floor, garage, wraparound deck, plumbing and electrical wiring. He also is accused of accepting from VECO a Viking gas grill, furniture and tools, and of failing to report swapping an old Ford for a new Land Rover to be driven by one of his children.

From May 1999 to August last year, prosecutors said, the senator concealed “his continuing receipt of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of things of value from a private corporation.”

Prosecutors said Stevens “took multiple steps to continue” receiving things from VECO and its founder, Bill Allen. The indictment says Allen and other VECO employees were soliciting Stevens for “multiple official actions ... knowing that Stevens could and did use his official position and his office on behalf of VECO during that same time period.”

VECO’s requests included funding and other aid for the company’s projects and partnerships in Pakistan and Russia. It also included federal grants from several agencies, as well as help in building a national gas pipeline in Alaska’s North Slope Region, the indictment filed in Washington said.

If convicted, Stevens could face up to five years in prison for each of the seven counts, although cases like this often result in lighter penalties.

Stevens said in a statement distributed by his office: “I have proudly served this nation and Alaska for over 50 years. My public service began when I served in World War II. It saddens me to learn that these charges have been brought against me. I have never knowingly submitted a false disclosure form required by law as a U.S. senator.”

He said that in line with Senate Republican rules he was temporarily giving up the ranking positions his seniority has given him.

If the Republicans were to take over the Senate, the party’s most-senior senator would be in line to become president pro tempore. The title is mostly symbolic, but its holder is third in line for the presidency.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said: “It’s a sad day for him, us, but you know I believe in the American system of justice, and he’s presumed innocent.”
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